Promise
by CrypticNiteMare
Summary: The day Yang was born changed Raven's life forever. It made her make a decision, one that she may not be proud of, but one that she will see to the end. One shot.


After feeling like her body had been ripped in half and thrown into dust, a thunderous cry filled the room. The strength of the wails were enough to bounce off the white walls and nearly echo. Raven Branwen opened her red eyes and nearly shut them again from exhaustion. Her hair was plastered to her face from sweat as she was huffing for sweet, precious oxygen to return to her. She had never been so drained in all her years of life, her body near physical perfection. Yet, childbirth was the event that left her unable to even stand. She felt the doctors and nurses work on her but she paid them no mind once the child was detached from her body.

Her eyes drifted towards the mass that was cautiously being passed to the child's father, Taiyang. Raven carefully watched him as he first held onto the child and slowly brought the bundle closer to his chest. Raven swore his blue eyes glinted under his messy blond hair with tears aching to leak out and she wanted to scoff, but her breathing still wasn't back to normal.

"She's beautiful," he all but whispered through the cries, as the doctors in the room nodded in agreement.

 _Ah, so it was a girl then._

Tai looked up with an enormous smile on his face, Raven felt her heart swell but she remained stoic. She wasn't one to crack, even after the torturous pain she had been through. But the way her beloved looked at her…

"Wanna see her?" He asked, his smile not breaking for even a second.

"Well I didn't do all that work for nothing," Raven muttered, shuffling slightly to sit back a little higher in the bed. She deserved to see the life she pushed into this world. Tai stepped closer to Raven, still clutching the child like a lifeline. When Raven brought her arms out, Tai gently took the still screeching girl away from him and placed her in her mother's arms.

When Raven positioned herself just right, she almost immediately asked Tai to take her back. Her body was tired, her arms hardly wanted to hold the extra weight. Yet there was one thing that was above all.

"Why are you crying so loud?" Raven asked, earning a chuckle from the others in the room. They must've thought she was joking. She wasn't. Still, the cries emitted from the girl, getting to the point of turning Raven tone deaf.

"Hey, quit it," Raven chided.

"Maaaaaaybe try a little nicer? She's a baby, dear," Tai suggested, his hand behind his head as the nurses whispered to each other.

Raven rolled her eyes, not giving a damn about what anybody thought. Still, he had a point. _Well, here goes nothing_ , Raven thought. She slowly started to rock the child in her arms. She kept at it for a couple of seconds, her body screaming at her to just go to sleep, but sure enough the cries diminished and were replaced by cooing and peace. Raven sighed, her eyes closed in a moment of victory.

When she opened them again, her heart nearly stopped. Staring up at her were the most beautiful pair of lilac eyes ever to exist. Somehow, the girl managed to have flowery eyes, with a button nose and face destined to break hearts. Her eyes continued to look straight into Raven's red eyes, curious as to what anything was. Her bubbly demeanor appeared, as her noises continued. Short, blonde curls covered in bits of red glop covered the girl's features, giving her a slimy appearance. Still, the child had peace in her eyes.

"Awh, she just needed her mom," Tai grinned.

Her… Her mom? It hit Raven. She was a mother now. This baby's mother. Her _daughter's_ mother. After a grueling nine months, she had given birth to life, to her. The child in her arms was no ordinary child. She was _her_ child.

 _Her baby_.

Raven felt like the world was falling apart and coming together in the same second. It was a feeling that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but if she were to say it out loud, which she never would, she would say she felt fear and courage at the same time. Worry and excitement. Strong but… but…

"Excuse me, would you mind if we take her for a couple of minutes to wash up and measurements? I promise she'll be back in no time," a nurse asked, a small smile on her face, as if she never got tired of this part of her job.

"Of course," Tai nodded, moving his head back to Raven and lifting his arms out for the baby.

 _NO,_ everything in Raven yelled. She had just gotten to see the baby and now she had to let go of her? Still, she swallowed her thoughts and carefully handed the baby back to Tai. She especially watched when Tai handed her to the nurse, who expertly held the baby. Raven said nothing as the nurse handled the child a few feet from her.

"Jeez, you know you can blink, right?" Tai joked.

Once again, Raven was stuck with the feeling she had never felt before. She associated it with one thing and one thing only. Not only had her baby made her feel whole but she simultaneously made Raven feel _weak_.

Her daughter made her feel weak.

She was Branwen, her goal in life was to live for the tribe and only the tribe. She was to protect and serve her family. Not go on and have her own.

Which was exactly what she had done. She had gone off, actually entertained the thought of becoming a huntress. Actually became involved in plans for the future of humanity. Actually fell in love. And now, actually having a child.

Who did she think she was? Raven wanted to throw up. The exhaustion only a small part of it, she had made herself sick. She made herself weak. She entertained the though of another life when she already had hers given to her by her tribe. She had a mission, one that was to determine her rank within the tribe once she had returned. One that would instill respect to all those who had heard of what she had done and what she could do. What more could she want?

"Hey, guys!" A gruff but excited voice entered through the door, footsteps heavy and right behind those was a smaller sound of feet. Raven already knew who they were.

"Qrow and Summer, I can't wait to show you guys the newest addition to the team!" Tai said, hardly breaking through Raven's thoughts.

"How's my sister doing?" Qrow asked, examining Raven's slouched position. Her eyes were distant and unfocused. Her head was looking down now, not bothering on welcoming her brother or the woman next to him. He hadn't seen her this way in a long time.

"Never better. You should've seen the way she calmed the baby down!" Tai proudly stated. He was so excited, so in love, that he was blind to the shell before him.

Uh huh," Qrow nodded, his gaze not leaving his older sister. He was more than just her brother. He was her twin brother. In a weird way, he knew just a small portion of what her true feelings were. They weren't good.

Qrow's tone didn't even dampen Tai's mood. He heard Tai just keep talking, his voice speaking to Summer now. Qrow and Raven were the only ones talking without voices. Qrow had hoped her new life of motherhood would give Raven the sense of balance she needed in her life, without returning to the tribe. He was wrong.

"And here we have one clean and gorgeous little girl! Have we decided on a name?" The nurse asked, coming back to the group with the baby in new blankets and a small beanie that covered the blonde curls.

"Yang. Yang Xiao Long!" Tai excitedly said. Then a bit of a sheepish grin broke out on Tai's features as he turned back to Raven. "Sorry, I didn't mean to say that without consulting you first. Are you okay with-"

"It's fine," Raven replied dejectedly, "I'm going to sleep." She turned over, her face away from the baby being handed back into Taiyang's arms. Qrow watched as his sister closed her eyes, wanting nothing more to deal with. He felt his heart twitch, he had hoped that the arrival of her child would make her happy. He had hoped that his sister would see the light and forget her ways. Raven was too stubborn for her own good.

"Give 'er here, Tai," Qrow managed to smile, he wasn't going to let Raven take this moment away from him like she took it from herself. He would only have fond memories of meeting his niece for the first time. He wouldn't associate this moment with the pain that was forth coming. He would be happy while happy was snug in his arms. Qrow sat down in a nearby chair as Tai was giving instructions on how to hold Yang. He was sure to stick around nearby, wary of Qrow's semblance always at work.

Yang yawned from her small mouth as she looked drowsily at her uncle's face. "Hey there, kiddo, nice to meet you. I'm Qrow. _Uncle_ Qrow. Hah, I like the sound of that," Qrow said genuinely, Summer peaking over to view Yang in her cuteness, her white face tinged with red. She was a woman of few words, quiet as a mouse but as strong as a hundred armies. You'd never guess it by looking at her though.

Raven frowned as she forced herself to sleep.

* * *

"The same day my daughter was born, was the same day I planned to come back to the tribe once and for all. To lead like I was supposed to do all along." Raven said out loud, pacing in her tent.

"The only thing that matters in this world is strength and I would have had to give it up if I stayed there. She made me weak, she made me scared, she made me vulnerable, she made me everything I was told I could never be," Raven kept going. The air in the room became stuffy as she relived those minutes over and over again. This was something that always hurt, no matter how she dealt with it. It hurt that her brother left her to stay in that cozy life, it hurt to turn back on her sweet Taiyang. Still, nothing was as agonizing as leaving her one and only child.

"I couldn't reduce myself to a pathetic mess for the sake of my daughter, for the sake of anyone!" Raven bellowed. "I did what I had to do, to keep true to myself, I came back to my tribe. To the people that raised me to be strong."

A woman with short brown hair and blue eyes sat as Raven still paced around the tent. She said nothing as her leader was mentally going through all that pain again. She didn't know if she was impressed or if she felt bad.

"I couldn't let anybody see me like that. Ever. That's why I chose to leave and never go back, it is why I left her with her father."

Vernal understood as clear as crystal. Although, she did have one thing she was confused about. Before she could speak, Raven beat her to it.

"Now, you may be wondering why I chose to confess this to you," Raven huffed, her eyes closed in concentration.

Vernal spoke clearly, just as Raven had taught her, "Yes."

Raven opened her tired red eyes, "Because," she sighed, "I feel that one day I will fight on a side opposite of my daughter. I need someone to understand now that I will never be the same for what very well may happen. But it will not sway the decision I am making here and now. I'll need you to remind me to keep this promise."

Vernal raised a curious eyebrow, "What is it?"

Raven turned her back to the sitting girl, and looked up. No emotion apparent, no tears threatening to pour. Still, on the inside, she felt what was left of her mangled heart break yet again.

"If it comes down to it, _I_ am to be the one that ends Yang's life, is that understood?"


End file.
